George A. Gescheider
Dept. of Psych., Hamilton College, Clinton, NY 13323
Inst. for Sensory Res., Syracuse Univ., Syracuse, NY 13244-5290
Kristine Santoro
Hamilton College, Clinton, NY 13323
James C. Makous
Stanley J. Bolanowski
Syracuse Univ., Syracuse, NY 13244-5290
Vibrotactile thresholds were found to increase as a function of the duration and intensity of a forward masking stimulus and to decrease as a function of the time interval between the termination of the masking stimulus and the onset of the signal ((Delta)t) and signal duration. The effects of the intensity and duration of the masking stimulus were similar for both the P and NPI channels as indicated by the nearly identical results measured at 250 and 20 Hz. The observed declines in threshold as a function of (Delta)t and signal duration were both attributed to an increase in the time interval between the offset of the masking stimulus and the offset of the signal.